


Be Gay, Sell Tacos

by Animedemon01



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Food Trucks, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:09:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28839051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Animedemon01/pseuds/Animedemon01
Summary: El Topo and Le Chevre open up their new taco truck, Go Taco Molé.
Relationships: Le Chèvre | Jean Paul/El Topo | Antonio
Comments: 9
Kudos: 165





	Be Gay, Sell Tacos

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be back to working on my main fic soon, but here's something short and sweet.

A taco truck. Le Chevre honestly thought his boyfriend was joking at first. They were currently on the run from ACME, basically homeless, and neither of them knew the first thing about making taco’s or running a food truck.

“A food truck? Really, _mon amour_?” He all but laughed. “And tacos of all things. Not even a food we are more familiar with cooking? I know for a fact you are not from Mexico or any other place that one would associate with tacos.”

Much to his surprise, El Topo was completely serious. “ _Si_ , I have been doing a lot of research and I have found that taco trucks are the most popular and profitable type of food truck. I have also been looking into suppliers, the permits we need, and the costs associated with starting up our business, and I think we have enough money saved to get started.”

Because all their previous work experience was either for VILE or in a foreign country, and they lacked any sort of references, finding work had been hard, so the two off them would usually spend the day doing odd jobs for cash. It would have been easier if they could just go back to crime in order to make money, but with ACME after them, they had to keep a low profile. That money was supposed to go to getting them some permanent housing, not towards some risky business venture.

Le Chevre was understandably hesitant. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Antonio? We were saving that money for a deposit and first and lasts months rent on an apartment. A food truck sounds like a very risky business, and we could easily lose all of our hard work.”

Due to their lack of money to but towards an apartment, and the fact that they weren’t able to collect any type of government assistance due to not only being in the United States without any sort of documentation, but also being wanted criminals, they’d been living at a homeless shelter for months. Le Chevre wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

“We have both been risk takers our whole lives, and it has usually worked out for us.” Replied El Topo. “If we both had not taken the risk of joining VILE, we would never have met and fallen in love. I think this is just another risk we need to take. Besides, we can sleep in the food truck and use the public showers they have on the beach.”

That honestly sounded worse than living in a homeless shelter, but Le Chevre knew he had to support his boyfriend no matter what.

“Alright, _mon chou_ , if you think this is what we should do, I will trust you on that.”

El Topo pulled him into a tight hug. “Thank you, _mi amor_ , I only want to do this is you are with me 100%. After all, we have always been a team, and we always will be a team.”

Le Chevre wasn’t so sure about the idea, but it made El Topo happy.

It was a few weeks before they were able to find a food truck for sale within their price range. While the vehicle seemed fine mechanically, it was an absolute mess and would need a ton of aesthetic repairs before it was something people would actually consider buying food for, and if they even wanted to just sleep in the thing, they would have to start by getting rid of the terrible smell.

Le Chevre hated every moment of it as they began the long process of restoring the food truck to its former glory, but he would never let El Topo know. The shorter man seemed so happy that they were working on something together again, there was no point in putting a damper on his spirits.

Within a few weeks they were able to get the truck in good enough condition that they could sleep in it, but they were still so far away from being able to open up their taco truck. The aesthetics of the truck still needed a vast overhaul, they had to perfect their recipes and find suppliers, and there was still a good deal of paperwork needed to make their business legit.

During the day, El Topo would stay and work on the truck and perfecting their menu, while Le Chevre would go out and continue to work odd jobs in order to keep a continuous cash flow until their business was up in running. Neither of them had much experience that could be considered relevant to fixing up or running a food truck, but El Topo did seem to be a bit better and decorating and cooking than his partner.

In order to create recipes that would sell well, El Topo started by visiting the local library to pick up some books on Mexican cuisine. From there, he would first try the recipes the way they were written in the books before trying to put his own twist on the recipe. A great deal of his attempts ended in failure, but he was finally starting to get the hang of things.

El Topo had always enjoyed cooking and was fairly apt at creating good meals for cheap. As a VILE operative he had managed to secure permission to use the cafeteria’s kitchen in the off hours so long as he cleaned up after himself and brought his own ingredients. He was much better at baking than anything else, but he loved the challenge of a new type of cooking.

Le Chevre, on the other hand, was just happy that his boyfriend was happy. El Topo was a normally cheery person, but when they had first escaped VILE and didn’t have much of a purpose in life, he wasn’t really his usual self, and seemed quite down.

El Topo had always had issues dealing with drastic change and uncertainty, and the fact that they likely would never see many of their friends again hit him hard. For a while it was like he was just going through the motions and not really living his life, but now he’d perked right back up. And when El Topo was happy, Le Chevre couldn’t help but be happy as well.

A few months passed before Go Taco Molé (the name El Topo had come up with for their business) was finally ready to open. The old food truck looked nothing like it originally had when they’d bought it, and El Topo had personally created the menu with his own recipes. They’d found suppliers for their ingredients and had gotten all the proper permits to run their business and sell at the beachfront location. Their taco truck was finally a legitimate business.

For the first few days, business was slow. The weather wasn’t great, so people weren’t coming to the beach as much, and seeing as their taco truck was new, they lacked any sort of loyal customer base. They had both put a lot of hard work into their business, so it was almost painful seeing it do this pitifully so far.

Le Chevre understood these things took time, and honestly hadn’t put too much hope in the business from the start, but El Topo was clearly becoming discouraged. He’s had such high hopes for the business, and it wasn’t going how he expected at all.

“I’m sorry, Jean Paul.” He said. “I thought this taco truck would be our path to success, but it seems I was wrong. We are not doing very well at all, and I do not know how much longer we can continue to run this if we do not start making a profit soon.”

“Don’t give up now, _mon amour_ , after all, we are just starting out.” Replied Le Chevre. “These things take time, and people do not know of us, yet. With your amazing cooking, I know we will be popular in no time. For now, I think it would be best if you run the truck alone while I go back to working so that we have a backup fund just in case.”

El Topo wanted this business to be something they did together, but he knew that Le Chevre was right for wanting a backup plan, just in case. Hopefully, business would start to boom sooner that later, and they’d be back working the taco truck together.

“That sounds like a plan.”

For the next few weeks, Le Chevre was back to simply working odd jobs like he’d done before. Business at Go Taco Molé was still slow, but El Topo had started a few social media accounts for the truck and was starting to gain a small following that way.

One day, while Le Chevre was looking for his next opportunity to earn a little cash, he suddenly got a phone call from El Topo.

 _“_ Mi amor _, I need you to come back to the truck as soon as you can.”_ El Topo told him over the phone. _“We are very busy, and I simply cannot take care of all these orders by myself.”_

“I am glad to hear that we are doing well.” He replied. “I will be over there as soon as I can.”

El Topo hadn’t been exaggerating when he said they were slammed. Sure enough, there was a line of about a dozen people standing at their taco truck. El Topo was doing his best to cook the food while simultaneously taking orders, but it was clear he just couldn’t keep up.

“Jean Paul!” He shouted as soon as he saw his partner. “As you can see, we are very busy, and I am glad you are here. I cannot do this on my own.”

“I will do my best to help you, _mon chou_ , but I do not know how to cook.” He replied. “I really don’t know what any on this kitchen stuff does.”

“That does not matter.” Said El Topo, tossing him an apron. “I can manage the cooking on my own, but I need someone to take orders, collect the money from customers, and call out the orders when they are done. Just help out the customers, I can handle the rest.”

Le Chevre wasn’t exactly great with customer service, either. He didn’t like most people, and it took all his willpower to not snap at the customers for being impatient with El Topo or getting all the way to the front of the line without deciding what they wanted. He could never understand how nice El Topo was to these people, and it was genuine kindness he had, not just a service worker façade to keep the customers happy.

During slower periods, Le Chevre would help out with some prep work, such as slicing up the vegetables, but most of the time he was at the front. He couldn’t believe how well El Topo was able to churn out meals so quickly, and how well he was able to multitask. More than once, Le Chevre found himself just standing at the front doing nothing while El Topo was preparing three or four meals at a time.

By closing time, they were both exhausted. Such a busy day was completely unexpected, but at least they’d made a great deal of money. El Topo had even suggested that if business stayed this good, they could close on Mondays and Thursdays in order to have a break. That sounded wonderful to Le Chevre who wasn’t sure how he’d manage to spend ten hours a day on his feet for seven days a week.

After they had cleaned up and did the prep work for the morning, they both used the beaches public showers, before heading to sleep. They were currently both sleeping on the floor of the truck, but since neither of them had really had a place to call their own even before joining VILE, it was nice to have a space just for the two of them.

While they still had slower days during the week, business was absolutely booming on the weekends, so much so that it did make sense to close on Mondays and Thursdays, only staying open on those days if they were holidays. Le Chevre had brought up the idea of maybe hiring an employee or two, but El Topo had shot him down. This was their truck, and their truck alone. There wasn’t even really room for a third person to work in the small vehicle, either.

Three months had passed since they had first opened Go Taco Molé, and things could not have been going better. They had finally saved up enough money to get an apartment and were no longer sleeping in the truck. Currently they were working on saving up for a down payment on a small house.

One day, as they were getting ready to close up shop, a woman in a red hoodie showed up at the food truck window. Le Chevre really didn’t want to take another order but knew El Topo wouldn’t be happy if he turned away a customer while they were still technically open.

The woman ordered a beef taco with extra cheese and a soda, and just as he was about to tell her the total, he finally recognized her.

“Carmen Sandiego!” He gasped. “But I thought you had taken down VILE and retired! You cannot separate me from Antonio, I will not allow it!”

“Relax; if I wanted you two in custody, you would already be sitting in a cell.” She told them. “I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to see if Go Taco Molé lived up to the hype. Besides, I wouldn’t miss a chance to check in on two old friends.”

El Topo gave her a look of confusion. “So you are not here to arrest us?”

She shook her head. “Arresting people is ACME’s job, not mine. I’ve always been a lone wolf, and I plan to keep it that way. Since you two don’t seem to be with VILE 2.0, or committing crimes in any capacity, there’s no reason for me to take you down. So long as you continue to live as civilians, I will continue to leave you alone.”

“That was our plan.” Replied Le Chevre. “We both joined VILE to escape unfavorable circumstances, and since we do not have to return to those circumstances, we have decided to make the best of our lives together. We will not be a problem for you unless you become a problem for us.”

El Topo quickly finished with Carmen’s taco and handed it over to her. “This one is on the house.”

Carmen gave a nod, shoving $200 in their tip jar. “Thanks. I’ll be around if you two get in trouble, pr make trouble. I just wanted you two to know I had my eye on you.”

With that, she walked away, disappearing when she was across the street and a large truck passed by.


End file.
